mitchell



UNITED STATES PATENT CFFTCE.

F. G. MITCHELL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

HERNIAL TRUSS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 18,548, dated September 11, 1855.l

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCES GRACE MITCHELL, M. D., of the city of New York, county of New York, and State of New York, have contrived a new and useful Improvement in Abdominal Uterine Supporters; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the' same, reference being had to the annexed drawing, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l, is a. perspective view of the abdominal uterine support with the pads attached; Fig. 2, a side view of the pad, the action represented by red lines; Fig. 3, a front view of the pad.

a, a, is the base of the pad; b, b, a brass lever fastened by a hinge c, c to the plate on the back of the pad, which presses on a steel spring (Z, CZ, into a groove e, c, in the center of the plate. An elastic strap g g fastens on a stud f f, then passes under the thigh and is buttoned on the supporter on the costa of the ileum. This produces an inward action and increases or diminishes the pressure of the pad.

'Ihe elastic abdominal uterine supporter is adjusted to the body by buckles and st-raps and formed of material usually employed in ordinary supporters.

I claim no part as original, but conne my improvement to the mechanical arrangement on the back of the pad which is contained within the supporter.

a, a, is the base of the pad, which is so constructed that it acts with the greatest force at the lower boundary-with a gradual diminution as it ascends upward. It is intended to rest in the groin or inguinal region. It acts from the linea alba obliquely outward, upward and backward so as to check the descent of the intestines and keep them in their natural resting place, the venters of the ileum, by giving permanent support to the abdominal muscles and sustaining the weight of the viscera. The space between the pads is to relieve the urinary organs from any pressure, thus giving nature her recuperative powers of restoring the parts to a healthy condition.

I do not claim the form or application of the pad as original, but

That I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Let-ters Patent, is-

The mechanical arrangement on the back of the pad, on the metal plate, which consists of a lever which presses a steel spring into a longitudinal groove formed in the center of the metal plate on the back of the pad.

FRANCES GRACE MITCHELL.

Witnesses:

AUGUSTUS MITCHELL, J. M. SANDERSON, 

